UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
On the Russian side, only military personnel without a mandate to negotiate are present, which shows that Moscow is not serious about peace, said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, commenting on the talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi.
❗️According to a Levada Center poll, 76% of Russians currently support the war against Ukraine.
Presenting the study in Berlin on January 27, Levada Center research director Lev Gudkov said Russian society is largely unaffected by military losses that shock Western audiences. Fatigue, indifference, and fear dominate public sentiment, while only one in ten respondents feels guilt over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Gudkov noted that economic difficulties and Ukraine’s increasingly frequent strikes on Russian territory have not reduced support for the war. On the contrary, many Russians — especially in the provinces — have financially benefited from the war.
At the same time, anxiety and fear have grown in border regions, accompanied by increased aggression toward Ukraine.
Overall psychological fatigue is rising. Sixty-six percent of respondents support peace talks, but only on Russia’s terms, while roughly 25–33% favor continuing the war “until a victorious end.”
Russia does not know what security guarantees Washington and Kyiv have agreed on, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Other statements:
▫️ The ceasefire sought by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is unacceptable to Russia.
▫️ Western security guarantees for Ukraine are unlikely to ensure lasting peace. Security guarantees were agreed upon in April 2022 in Istanbul.
▫️ Russian negotiators will continue communication in any format and “know their business.”
▫️ Moscow is looking for real agreements, not public games.
▫️ The US 28-point plan included a requirement for Kyiv to ensure the rights of national minorities, including language and religion. Europe and Kyiv later reworked the plan and removed this requirement.
▫️ Russia has asked the UN whether it can recognize the right of the peoples of Donbas, Novorossiya, and Crimea to self-determination, as it did with Greenland.
▫️ European elites are using the “Russian threat” to mobilize voters and retain power.
▫️ The Baltic states, Germany, and France, along with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, are inflating claims about preparations for a third world war allegedly initiated by Russia.
▫️ The US is confident that Russia has no claims to Greenland.
▫️ US President Donald Trump needed Venezuelan oil for his operation involving Nicolás Maduro.
🇪🇺 The EU Council has added the Russian Federation to the list of countries with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.
This decision entails the following consequences:
▫️ Increased scrutiny of all financial transactions involving Russia
▫️ EU banks may refuse transactions or close existing accounts
▫️ Stricter checks on accounts, including the origin of funds, beneficial ownership, and significantly longer payment processing times
▫️ Greater difficulty for Russian citizens in opening bank accounts, registering companies, and using payment systems in the EU
▫️ And many other “pleasant” complications for anything connected to Russia and Russian-linked funds [only took what, 4 years?]
🇪🇺 The EU has imposed sanctions on several Russian propagandists who systematically support Kremlin policies.
The list includes TV presenter and sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev, propagandist Pavel Zarubin, Vremya presenter Ekaterina Andreeva, and Maria Sittel, who takes part in state propaganda events.
❗️Germany has delivered two cogeneration plants to Kyiv, the German Embassy in Ukraine reported.
Part of an emergency energy support package now totaling €120 million, the plants will provide heat and electricity to 86,000 residents.
Another 41 cogeneration plants, 76 modular boiler houses, and additional energy equipment will be sent to Ukraine soon.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Brussels has called for the cancellation of the screening of the Russian war film “Carnets de Russie” (Notes from Russia).
In its statement, the diplomatic mission said the film presents a distorted picture of the war, downplays Russia’s aggression, obscures responsibility for war crimes, and blurs the line between the aggressor and the victim.
The embassy also stressed that filming in temporarily occupied territories without Ukraine’s consent violates Ukrainian legislation and international law.
By portraying the war as a matter of “rival interpretations,” the documentary contributes to the normalization of violence, the justification of aggression, and the erosion of accountability under international law. Such narratives, the statement said, are part of Russia’s information war and are used to manipulate public opinion and weaken democratic societies.
The reason why Shahed drones have been appearing over cities without air raid alerts has been explained.
Advisor to the Minister of Defense Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov published footage of a Shahed flying at extremely low altitude under manual control, allowing it to evade radar detection until the last moment.
“Our enemy is using various tactics to destroy our military assets. One of the latest is flying at extremely low altitude under manual control. As seen in the video, this altitude can be just tens of meters,” Flash said.
He added that Ukraine has technological countermeasures and will respond, but urged heightened vigilance for now.
“I ask to set up remote visual and audio observation posts and to be ready to intercept targets with mobile and stationary fire groups, even if Virage and other systems are silent. Special attention should be paid to riverbeds, plains, and long terrain depressions,” he stressed.
Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who took part in the war against Ukraine could be banned from entering EU countries.
A corresponding proposal from Estonia is already being considered in Brussels, the country’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhkna said on Thursday, January 29, as quoted by the dpa news agency. [...]
“Their common features are combat experience and the use of violence, including alleged participation in war crimes and other atrocities against the Ukrainian population, the documents state.
The authors of the initiative warn that the possible entry and stay of Russian military personnel in the EU “not only carries the risk of committing violent acts, but also represents an important channel through which organized crime, extremist groups and hostile state structures can gain a foothold and spread throughout Europe.” They note that former war veterans, some with criminal records, could be easily recruited by Russian security services.
In this context, Tallinn is calling on all EU and Schengen countries to impose a complete entry ban on Russian citizens who participated in the war against Ukraine and to deny them visas and residence permits. [...]At the same time, Politico reports, citing an unnamed EU diplomat, that while EU states “morally” support Estonia’s initiative, implementing such a ban would be difficult for many countries. Some would need to identify individual participants in the full-scale invasion and collect evidence to justify the restrictions.
Russia’s Orthodox Church Urges Husbands’ Consent for Abortions as Birth Rates Plunge (united24media.com/latest-news/russias-orthodox-church-urges-husbands-consent-for-abortions-as-birth-rates-plunge-15468)
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has proposed a legislative ban preventing women in registered marriages from having an abortion without their husband's consent.
As reported by The Moscow Times on January 29, he argued that “women’s psyches are more fragile, and they are more emotionally vulnerable,” which may cause them to act impulsively or be “in a state of emotional distress.”
“A woman could be in a state of emotional distress… And that's why it's important for the husband to be present, someone who can say, 'No, listen, we’ll manage, we’ll earn money... His words should be part of the discussion on whether to go ahead with this act or not,” Patriarch Kirill explained during a speech in the Federation Council.